Stolen Minutes
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Raven Mystique and Irene Destiny share a few stolen minutes out of time from a hectic world. Femme Slash.


Title: "Stolen Minutes"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Raven (Mystique) and Irene (Destiny) share a few stolen minutes out of time from a hectic world.  
Warnings: Femme Slash  
Challenge: The XMenFantasies list challenge for 8-6-09: Author's Choice - Romantic Interlude, including the words "candles", "pretend", "first kiss", "mesmerize", and "what do you see"  
Disclaimer: Raven "Mystique" Darkholme, Irene/Destiny, Rogue, Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner, the Legacy Virus, and the X-Men are & TM Marvel comics, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

"What do you see?"

Raven gazed at her lover over the lights of the flickering candles. She knew Irene ached to see the beauty of the land stretched out before them from this secluded hill, but instead of giving her the answer she wanted, she gave her the truth, which came so rarely to her lips when dealing with any one but her beloved partner. "I see," she spoke softly, leaning over and taking Irene's hand in her own, "a woman who has never ceased to mesmerize me since our first kiss."

A coy smile played over Raven's blood red lips at the memory. They had been arguing viciously that day, she determined that she should lay her life on the line for the cause they both believed in, a world where they could be free of all forms of prejudice, and Irene just as determined that she should not go to that particular battlefield where she had foreseen her death and stubbornly clinging to her, when such exasperation had clutched at Raven that she had reached out, grabbed the other woman, and kissed her with all the burning fire that raged within her. Irene had met her back in full passion. It marveled Raven every time she stopped to reflect that such a wonderful woman could ever want to hold on to her when nothing she had ever done had proven that she was worth loving, let alone holding on to.

Irene turned her hand and clasped Raven's fingers. "Do not bother yourself with the mistakes of yesteryears, my love."

Raven shook herself, glad that Irene could not see the emotions broiling in her yellow eyes though she knew her love still felt her sadness. She was right. Time was too short, especially now with her partner having contracted the dreaded Legacy Virus, to waste thought on what could have been, might have been, or perhaps even should have been if only she had acted differently. She had tried to make amends with both Rogue and Kurt, but neither wanted her. Irene not only wanted her; she loved her.

A gentle squeeze on her hand brought Raven back to the present a second time, and she raised Irene's hand and gently brushed her lips over her wrinkled flesh. Time was far too short for them, and she would make the most of every second she still had with the only woman she'd ever truly loved. "Just for tonight, darling, let's pretend that nothing else matters." She kissed the back of her hand again, then turned it over and pressed her lips to her palm. Her tongue trailed her tender skin before her lips began raining a series of gentle but heated kisses up her arm.

Irene asked no questions for she already had the answers. She knew despair threatened to wrap around her love's mind at every second now just as it did her own, and she was powerless to stop either of them. Yet Raven was right. Just as she had told her not to allow the past to haunt her, they must also not succumb to the dreaded future that her sickness stole away from them. They had only the present left to them, but they would make every second count to the utmost as long as they could. She succumbed willingly with eager sighs to Raven's kisses, her hands doing the talking as, with her caresses, she told her how much she loved, needed, and wanted only her not only for the time she had left but for whatever waited beyond as well. Just before Raven's lips captured hers, Irene whispered the words she so needed to hear time and again, the words that Irene wished she'd heard more often in her life for perhaps then she would not be so wretched as she was inside, "I love you."

The night wind caught at the women's hair, twirling it this way and that so that it brushed against each other like fingers affected by the passion of an eager lover. Raven melded into a perfect fit for Irene's body as she strove, with every touch, to tell her how much she loved and needed her and to bring her the greatest pleasure she could. Together they climbed the heights of true love that only they had ever brought to each other, and for a few minutes reclaimed in a hectic world, all else ceased to exist and only they, and their love, were real.

**The End**


End file.
